Golden Gate Polo Field Tempo

Time: 74:00
Distance: 11.5 mi.

Target: 4.5 miles (6 laps of the polo fields) a bit over 5:00 pace
Workout: 3 miles (4 laps of the polo fields) in 15:49 (5:17 pace)

Ran in the evening, and it was not a great workout. I warmed up 4 miles to the polo fields in Golden Gate Park which have a dirt track around it that appears to be very close to 3/4 of a mile. I was going to try to run 6 laps (4.5 miles), but I only made it 4 (3 miles) before my hamstring and stomach acted up enough to make me call it. It was slow from the get-go, reflecting the conditions (ground was soft and it was very windy on the long stretch) and my condition, as well as a bit of a guess of the true distance.

On my way out I did help a guy on Fell St. heading out whose car ran out of gas about 100m from the gas station.

Brant Point Runners 5k

Time: 62:00
Distance: 9.5 mi.

Goal: run hard, win, enjoy getting on the line with TAW
Race: 1st, 16:25.9 (5:32.5, 5:14.4, 5:08.2)


The race goes near Brant Point and the Brant Point Lighthouse

Taylor was invited by someone who saw him running to hit up this "road race" which seems more like a weekly fun run put on by the Brant Point Runners club. We really had no idea what to expect and when I got there I had to tell the woman I signed up with that, no, I did not know my way around and, yes, I did expect to be near the front. Oh, and there was no pace car/bike and they didn't close off the roads. And the course record was "either 16 or 17." There don't seem to be any results online, but the next guy was 18:10ish and then Taylor was third in 18:20-30. I ran the first 1/2 to 3/4 miles with the other leaders and then took off.

Rosen Loop Progression Run

Time: 75:00
Distance: 12 mi.

Target: Rosen loop (just shy of 7 miles) in 5:50 down to 5:20
Workout: Felt fairly comfortable running 5:40s down to 5:20s with the last mile in 5:05

I woke up early this morning to do the hard run that I should've done yesterday. It felt relatively cool, but the humidity was pretty serious. I started at the railroad tracks headed east up the first big hill and did the loop clockwise. This way I hit the high point of the entire hilly loop just after the first mile. I felt relatively comfortable the whole time, with some leg soreness bothering me more than aerobics. This was a much better workout on a far hillier course than last week's tempo.

The whole loop is less than 100m (20 sec) shy of 7 miles, so I've adjusted the splits accordingly. The first three miles were 17:00 (5:40 pace), the next 3 miles in 16:20 (5:26 pace), and the last (slightly downhill) mile in 5:05 for a total of 38:25 (5:29 pace for a full 7 miles).

5 Mile Tempo

Time: 63:30
Distance: 10 mi.

Target: 5 mile tempo under 5:30 pace (27:00)
Workout: a very approximate 5 miles in 27:13

I chose to do the tempo on a 1.6 mile road loop that goes around the UMass football field. Three laps would be 4.8 miles and then I could add on about 60 seconds for the last 0.2 mi. Close enough for my needs these days. I measured the loop only to find that since these satellite pictures have been taken UMass put in a new track on the northeast corner and the loop has changed somewhat. It is not easy to say exactly how much but it seems at least a little bit longer, so I don't have a great way to judge this effort. In addition, there was a tree across the road in one part that I had to run around, adding ~4 seconds? each loop.

Whatever... it was a good longish effort in the pouring rain. I was going to double, but being soaked led to some chafing issues that should be rested.

Let's Get Dangerous

Time: 40:00
Distance: 6.5 mi.

Target: 5 mile tempo in 5:30s or faster; don't lose to any women (pretty awesome, huh?)
Race/workout: 5:33, 5:30, 5:26, 5:28, 4:59 (26:56)

I went down to DC for the weekend and on Saturday evening headed out to the Rockville Twilight 8k near the Stern's house. I--as Darkwing Duck--ran the first few miles with Ben "Sir Quackley McDuck" Stern and then kept on the pace as he dropped back a bit. I didn't really prepare for this mentally or physically, illustrated by the 12ish minute warmup with the whole Duckberg All-Stars team, lack of any stretching, and starting a few rows back. I had stomach issues from about 1/2 mile into the effort and got blisters about half way through the race, but overall it was probably good to do this. Also, they had very nice complimentary refreshments afterwards.

I finished in 25th and while crossing the line after the first woman but (because the times are listed as chip times, rather than gun times) I beat her in the results.

6. 159:09 DUCKBURG ALL-STARS       (31:50)
===================================
1  26:56  Darkwing Duck         M 23
2  28:50  Sir Quackly McDuck    M 23 (Ben Stern)
3  33:22  Dewey Duck            F 23 (Jilane Rodgers)
4  34:17  Flintheart Glomgold   M 23 (Christian Tabib)
5  35:44  Miss Emily Quackfaste F 23 (Kelly Powell)

Results and more are over at RunWashington. More on Darkwing Duck at Wikipedia and YouTube.

Town Lake, Infield

Time: 105:00
Distance: 17 mi.

Target: 105 minute run with a 4 mile tempo in 5:35s in the middle
Workout: 48:40, 4 miles in 21:36 (5:24 avg), 34:51 (including 8 diagonal strides)

I met the guys for their Sunday run from the track. Apparently they have been doing this mid-long run tempo for a few weeks (not including last week). This worked fine for my "get Wednesday and Sunday hard efforts" plan leading up to the half. We got rolling on the east side of Town Lake, down to close to 6 minute pace before starting the tempo at 0.0. It didn't take long to get into the pace, as the first mile was about 5:28 and the rest were faster. They have finally cleared out the construction near the South First and Congress bridges, so we could do the "normal" (i.e. 80m long) 4 mile tempo. I felt fantastic aerobically the whole way, but my legs got tired.

The guys finished up on the infield for about 5 minutes when we got back at around 85:00, and I added on another 15 with some diagonal strides with a quick jog in the middle.

I also got back in my Elite 2s for this run, my right peroneal still hasn't warmed up, so to speak, to the Elixir's.

4 Mile Tempo, Fartlek

Time: 66:00
Distance: 10.5 mi.

Target: 2 x 4 mile tempo in 5:15-5:20 (21:00 to 21:20) with 3 minutes rest (like this workout from last fall)
Workout: 1 x 4 mile tempo in 21:47 (5:21.9, 5:24.8, 5:24.7, 5:36.3); 10 x 45 seconds hard, 60 seconds easy

The humidity owned me. When I was warming up I tried to convince myself that it wasn't that bad and that I would feel fine once I settled in. That did not happen. The first mile was rough, the second mile was rough, the third mile felt terrible and the fourth mile I packed it in. It was definitely the day, not me, as last week I put in a similar effort over 10 miles on a relatively cool morning. I didn't want to totally stop, and after a few minutes of standing recovery I didn't feel awful, so I did the fartlek back around Town Lake and to Zilker where I parked the car.

Barton Springs afterwards hit the spot.

Mt. Bonnell, Scenic, Town Lake, Track

Time: 120:00
Distance: 18.75 mi.
Map


Mid-way up Mt. Bonnell (View Larger Map)

I met the Texas guys at the track for a bit of an easier Sunday run than Vig usually has planned. It was a recovery day for a bunch of them, so the long group was just 90 minutes at a fairly easy pace. We ran Mt. Bonnell and Scenic, skipped Stratford and headed to Town Lake on Lake Austin. It was a beautiful day and everyone seemed it good spirits. My knee is still stiff, but it loosened up.

When they finished up at 90 minutes, I got on the track to try to get a bit of an uptempo effort in. I was shooting for 3 or 4 miles depending on how I was feeling. I ended up running 5:26, 5:27, 5:26, 5:18 (21:37). Birdsong ran the first two miles with me and then I ran the rest on my own. I finished up with an easy mile on the infield.

The most inspiring race of the weekend had to be Darren's 3:59.99 in the mile. He's been on the cusp for a while, and I think has felt a lot of pressure to do it, especially as he was trying to make his father and him the first American father-son sub-four duo. Hopefully he'll be able to have a breakthrough now that breaking four isn't his day-to-day focus.

The Full Town Lake

Time: 92:00
Distance: 15 mi.

Target: 10 miles in the 5:30s
Workout: 5:44, 5:38, 5:37, 11:22 (2 miles, around construction), 5:34, 5:32, 5:30, 5:33, 5:22 - total: 55:54, average: 5:35.4



I was looking for a long, hard and steady run that I could push without going to the well. Town Lake is obviously the place to do this, with soft surfaces, measured miles and few breaks. Unfortunately the city is in the middle of tearing up part of the area between miles 3 and 4, which threw this off a little bit--I had to run down some stairs and through another intersection to keep the distance correct. The first few miles were a little tough adjusting to the pace, but I felt pretty good by halfway. I was definitely within myself throughout the run.

5 Mile Tempo, 300s

Time: 82:00
Distance: 13.5 mi.

Target: average of ~5:10 for 5 miles on Jordan's "Tetris" loop; 6 x 300m in 48-49 with 100m quick jog
Workout: 25:48 (avg. 5:09.6); 6 x 300m in 48-50 (7:59 total)

I met Jordan at the OU track to start warming up for the tempo and 300s. He worked out a loop (that looks a bit like a Tetris piece) for his tempo last week, and we used it again. This time it featured the good old 360 degree Oklahoma wind that is at your face at almost every turn. He led through the first half and then I led the rest. The splits are a little weird, but we started in 5:12 and brought it down to 5:06 for the last mile. The blocks are exact distances here, so it was easy to know when we had gone 1/4, 1/2 and 1 mile at different places in the course.

The finishing point gave us just shy of 10 minutes back to the track for 300s. I wasn't feeling too sharp, and it showed. I was between 48 and 49-high on the 300s, Jordan was 48-45. The jog was a little slower than it probably should have been too.

As it turned out, Jordan was being a milage hero and managed to get in a longer warmup and cooldown than I did. Who does that?

Daisy 5k, TNT 2-Mile

Time: 95:00
Distance: 15 mi.

Target: get a good long-ish effort in; close to 15:00 for the 5k and 9:40 for the 2 mi. with as much running between as fits
Workout/Race: 15:12 for 2nd (behind Joe), 9:52? for 2nd (behind Bernard); 40 minutes on Town Lake as "rest"


15:12? Ouch!

I wasn't planning on this at all, but was offered a comp entry for both by the Austin Runners Club, so I decided to use this as my longer workout for the week. By the time this came around I had some serious sleep deprivation, so it was an effort to even get up, but it was a beautiful morning and fairly cool. I didn't know quite what I'd be able to do, so two hard efforts were my only real goal. Both races (which shared the first and last mile) were downhill out and uphill back, and I positive-split both pretty well. In the 5k Joe was able to beat the first woman, who started 3 minutes earlier, to win the "Daisy Challenge." Dave ran down to watch me flounder, and we ran 40 minutes on Town Lake in between. By the time I started the 2 mile my legs were pretty beat, which showed in the second uphill mile, where I was over 5 minutes.

By the time I was finished, I was totally beat. It wasn't a terrible outing... 5 miles of good effort and decent volume. I hit the cold pool and lay down outside afterward before getting ready for more SXSW.

Also, Wish, who I saw at the race, did a nice recap (with one weird quote from me about running 14:20).

4 Mile Tempo, 300s

Time: 81:00
Distance: 12.5 mi.

Target: 4 mile tempo at ~5:10; 6 x 300m in a good effort with 100m quick jog
Workout: 20:46 (5:12, 5:10, 5:15, 5:08); 48, 50, 48, 49, 48, 47 (8:10 for 1.5 mi.)


Mile 1 on Town Lake is on the bridge near Barton Springs

Chilly, windy morning in Austin. Joe and I ran from his house down to the Austin High track. We dropped off our flats and met Stanley, who had run from campus. The tempo was from the 2 mile mark to 0.0 and back. There was a fairly strong wind from the west, so the way out wasn't too bad, but we were fighting it all the way back. I was pretty stiff for the first mile of the tempo, but settled in. If the wind hadn't been so bad it wouldn't have been terrible to make this 5 miles, but the 5:08 at the end was a fight.

Joe and I jogged for 10 minutes and switched into flats before starting the 300s. We knew that one straightaway would have a lot of wind, so we didn't focus on the time other than to try to run even throughout.

Overall, it was a good workout despite the Oklahoma-esq wind. Unlike Oklahoma, however, there has been minimal leg bitage.

4 Mile Tempo

Time: 80:00
Distance: 12.5 mi.

Target: 4 mile track tempo in 19:30 (4:55, 4:55, 4:50, 4:50), though honestly I was just hoping for a good effort over 4 miles
Workout: 4:55, 4:55, 4:55, 5:00 (19:45)

Overall not a bad workout, but I was hurting a bit running with Leo (who the target splits were set up for... he ended up running 19:20 by dropping it to 4:45 the last two miles). Darren had run the first 3 miles with Leo and then jumped in for the last half mile to help me out, which was, well, quite helpful. It was pretty warm out on the track. I finished up with a 30 minute cool down with Darren and then 10 minutes barefoot on the infield, including 8 x diagonal strides decently hard.

4 Mile Tempo, 2 x 1k

Time: 64:00
Distance: 10.5 mi.

Target: 4 mile track tempo, 76 pace down to 72 (19:48 total); 6 min rest, 2 x 1k with the first in at least 2:50 and the second one faster than that, 200m rest.
Workout: 4:53, 4:54, 4:56, 4:52 (19:38); 2:51.0, 2:51.7.

This was a very encouraging workout. I met Erik, Kyle and Leo in the morning because one of them had a class conflict, which I much prefer to afternoon workouts. Their plan was the tempo and then a hard 800 after, so Vig gave me something different that would hopefully be more geared for a longer race. The tempo felt great... Leo took the first mile out about 10 seconds too fast, so it changed from being a progression run to being an even, quick tempo. I felt great the whole way--when the pace slacked a little bit in the last mile, I felt good enough to get up to the front and push it some. This is a complete change from the other workouts I've done in the last few weeks where I've really been hanging on. The 1ks weren't terribly hard, but definitely felt uncomfortable and I didn't really settle at all, probably because I haven't run anything near that pace. So far my training has been tempo pace or 200s in 30ish. Next week I should do a 1k repeat workout, or something similar. The other guys ran fairly well for their 800s (run separately)... Leo went 1:53 easing up a bit at the end. Not too shabby, eh?

It was a beautiful, clear morning. The air was cool, but the sun was warm. The wind picked up some by the intervals, but wasn't too bad for the tempo. This is close to the fastest (maybe the fastest?) that I've run for 4 miles in practice--we were through 5k near 15:10.

6 Mile Tempo, 200s

Time: 82:00
Distance: 13 mi.

Target: 6 mile tempo starting in 5:25 and going down; 4 x 200m in 30 with 45 sec rest
Workout: 5:23, 5:14, 5:12, 5:19, 5:09, 5:00 (31:20, 5:13s); 4 x 200 in 30-31


It was a sunny and relatively warm afternoon on Town Lake

This is pretty damn close to what Joe and I did last week, especially adjusted the way I described. Unfortunately Joe is a bit sick, but Vig sent Birdsong and Habben with me. This time we started at the 3 mile mark and ran to 0.0 and back (starting at the 3 mile mark, rather than the conventional spot). I felt better aerobically and physically than last week and it was much windier and very dry (though it was warmer, too). A little bit pissed that I got dropped again, but this time it was in the last half mile by about 5 seconds. Stomach was feeling pretty bad by the end which makes it hard to fight and feel competitive.

Class after workouts sucks. Mild workout stomach... hopefully by next week I'll be done with this.

6 Mile Tempo, 200s

Time: 80:00
Distance: 12.5 mi.

Target: 6 mile tempo in 5:25 down to 5:00 on Town Lake; 200s or 300s on the track
Workout: 5:21, 5:15, 5:22 (5:12?), 5:28 (5:18?), 5:08, 5:05 - 31:41 (31:21 adjusted, 5:13s); 4 x 200m in 32

I may be uptight about this stuff, but I find it a little bit annoying that we don't tend to go by the mile markers on Town Lake, despite the fact that they appear to be right. We start our normal 4 mile tempo course a bit back from the 4 mile marker, we split the next mile a bit back from the 3 mile marker, and then we split 2, 1 and 0 right on the markers. Almost every tempo that I have done on that loop has had a long second mile... which is exactly what you would expect from this setup if the mile markers are, in fact, right. Now, this may not matter for the most part, as we all know what a good time for these "4 miles" is, and we're talking about it being ~10 seconds off. No big deal, right?

Well due to construction in the first mile of our normal 4 mile loop, Joe and I started at 0.0, ran out to mile 3 and back. The only thing is that we ran past the mile 3 marker so we could hit the "normal" spot. This added on 10ish seconds on both miles 3 and 4. Maybe this is just a stupid rant, but I really don't see the point of that when we have good markers. Anyway, this at least somewhat explains the splits (though mile 4 was definitely slow regardless... I got a bit unfocused as Joe ran away from me a little bit).


A nice section of Town Lake near the boathouse... part of the "long mile"

This was definitely a better workout than saturday, so I was happy about that. Workout stomach afterwards seems to indicate that I was a bit over my head (and that I ate a Snickers bar a few hours before)... but it always takes one or two of these to get back into things. Belly of left hamstring and both calves sore afterwards.

4 Mile Tempo, 200s

Time: 65:00
Distance: 10.5 mi.

Target: 19:45 for 4 miles (5:05, 5:00, 4:55, 4:45), try for 2 miles in ~9:30
Workout: 20:18 (5:05, 5:01, 5:08, 5:04), 4 x 200 in 30

Yowza. Welp, I'm not quite there yet. Really unsure how well I would be able to work out because while I have been doing miles (including some steady runs) and the workout tuesday was decent, I haven't done anything at tempo pace. I got dropped by Jake and Birdsong heading into the 3rd mile and it was all downhill from there. I didn't feel terrible but was totally flat. Just had to get it in. Clearly the up tempo 2 miles afterwards didn't make sense, so I jumped in with those guys for 200s just to finish it off. I have to get on some tempos ASAP.

Santa Ana River Bike Path

Time: 90:00
Distance: 14.5 mi.

Target: 45 minutes out, steady sub-6 minute pace for 6+ miles.
Workout: 5:40, 5:34, 5:40, 5:39, 5:31, 5:36, 5:30 (5:35 avg)



Jilane took me over to the Santa Ana River Bike Path for a flat out-and-back run. Once I started to head out and saw the 1/2 mile markers, I got to thinking... when am I going to work out this week? Sooo... I decided to make it a steady/tempo run and try to roll out a bit once I turned around. The first half was around 6:30s and I didn't really know what to expect on how I would feel on the way back. Overall I was happy with it as I felt controlled pretty much the whole way. I didn't feel great, but my cold is lingering.

4 Mile Tempo

Time: 50:45
Distance: 7.5 mi.

Target: comfortable 5:30s for 4 miles
Workout: 5:27, 5:22, 5:37, 5:30 (21:57)

Feeling somewhat better today. I didn't get out early because of an information session and interview and I knew that after those it would be good to go out and clear my head. Started the run knowing that I wanted to do something up-tempo so I wouldn't be totally flat if I do this on Sunday. Overall it was okay, but it wasn't as easy as I was hoping for a few reasons: 1. I'm still somewhat sick, and felt fatigued; 2. my stomach had not taken care of breakfast; 3. my right hamstring and glute are very tight. Oh well!

I heard something interesting from Bob "Wish" Wischnia, a friend of Johnny G's from back in the day (who helped me get connected with RunTex and has been a great running contact since I've been in Austin). In response to an e-mail where I was complaining about the lingering sickness leading up to Decker (which he is also running) he wrote:

don't do a 'gregorek' (i.e., overthink)... as john used to say, my biggest handicap is between my ears. too true.

An interesting perspective.

3 Mile Tempo

Time: 55:30
Distance: 8.5 mi.

Target: 3 mile tempo, first and last miles under 5:00 (to help Hanley hit his times), middle mile of "recovery" at 5:30
Workout: 4:57, 5:26, 4:57; 15:20 for 3 miles

Hanley and Tom have apparently started challenging each other to workouts. Since Tom is now my racing arch-nemesis, I was happy to help out with Team Hanley today. I think ideally I would've taken one more easy day to kill this cold, but I was feeling stircrazy after two days of not running and a frustrating day. Despite throat and nose soreness and stuffiness I felt very relaxed through two miles--bringing the pace back down really didn't feel good. It also didn't help that my stomach wasn't settled at all. Oh well... it was fun to run in the cool evening on the dark track.

I also have to get the legs going a few times this week as I am officially signed up for the Decker Challenge 20k on Sunday. It looks like it will be... a challenge.

Also, the Daily Texan finally put up a story from an interview I did a few weeks back. I'm glad they got the final quote in, because it pretty much sums up how I'm feeling these days:

"I will miss being on a team with these guys," he said. "There is something about competing with a team ... an anxious feeling that you are competing for something bigger than your own performance."